Brève traversée (2001)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Catherine Breillat

Writer:

Catherine Breillat (writer)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Desire for a subject that functions like a brief fling with no future as such, yet embellished by that very fact...

Plot Keywords:

Beyond The Law | Ship | Brandy | Photograph | Nerd

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Sarah Pratt	...	Alice
Gilles Guillain	...	Thomas
Marc Filipi	...	Magicien
Laëtitia Lopez	...	Assistante magicien
Marc Jablonski	...	Cuisinier du self
Christelle Dacosta	...	Douanier Français
Nicholas Hawtrey	...	Vieil anglais
Franck Lemaitre	...	Serveur de la boite
Philippe Quaisse	...	Photographe
Jean-Claude Cavelier	...	Serveur de la boite
Alexandre Le Balidec	...	Douanier Français

Also Known As:

Brief Crossing (International: English title)

Runtime:

France:80 min | Netherlands:84 min (Rotterdam Film Festival)

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:R21

Filming Locations:

Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company:

Arte

Catherine Breillat's best work I've seen.

I saw this at the Auckland International Film Festival this year and with so little spare time I had to really be picky and selected what I thought was the 10 best films including `Y tu mama tambien' (which received critical acclaim). Personally I thought this was the best.

This film is set on an overnight ferry trip across the English channel, it begins with a chance encounter between two lone travellers, namely a 16 year old boy Thomas and a middle aged woman Alice. Seasoned lone travellers will know that keeping company with other lone travellers is a good way to pass time. This is how their relationship develops. Thomas wants what most young men his age want, a sexual encounter. Alice on the other hand portrays herself as a sophisticated yet vulnerable woman surviving a mid life crisis. Sounds like a volatile combination right? Well you will have to see this film to the end, which has one of the best endings I can remember.

Now some notes about the cast and crew. This film introduces Gilles Grippon (Thomas) and he plays his role well, a teenager trying to be cool yet unsure of himself and impressionable. Sarah Pratt was absolutely gorgeous and stunning as Alice. She really held together those scenes sans the dialog when the couple were just exchanging glances. This film is not wholly a French language film as English is almost equally spoken throughout. Sarah has an excellent command in both. I am surprised so little is known about this beautiful and talented actress. I hope to see her in more films to come.

This is the fourth Catherine Breillat film I have seen and the best so far. Like all her other films she deals with the character's sexual intricacies but it does not have the pornographic taint of `Romance', the violence found in `A Ma Soeur!' or any of the disturbing scenes found `A Real Young Girl' (one of her early films but only recently released because it had been banned). Also well translated on screen especially with the use of lighting is the feel of being on the channel ferry. Having been on one myself it brought back memories.

I would love to own this on DVD if it ever comes out. 10/10